Summer is right around the corner, which means being bombarded with dieting advertisements. You can’t seem to escape them on social media, even if you avoid pro-diet accounts and are careful about the influencers you follow. The diet industry is a million-dollar industry with Americans contributing to $60 million a year. So every time you scroll past a diet advertise on social media, at least a few hundred people on clicking on it in hopes to lose a few pounds.
Diet culture is toxic and straight-up dangerous. Diet companies prey on their customer’s insecurities to create a restrictive relationship with food, which causes the restriction and binge cycle. Most people on diets need up overeating or binging because of the restrictions placed on them. Many fad diets also exclude key nutrients, so that you are undernourished which can cause a number of health problems. Not to mention that diets are associated with the risk of developing eating disorders.
All diets are yoyo diets no matter how they are neatly packaged. The paleo diet is a diet. The Whole30 is a diet. Weight Watchers is a diet. They are trying to trick you by making you think it’s about “building a healthy lifestyle” instead of saying “you need to lose weight” because it’s no longer trendy.
Everyone wants to be healthy and lose twenty pounds. It doesn’t sound bad when you say you say you’re a vegan who intermediates fast. But in reality, you are skipping out of major food groups and severely restricting your food intake when you should be taking proper supplements and eating enough.
The diet industry thrives off your insecurities and pushing a narrative that fits their business. But in the long term, even if you do lose weight, most people gain it back. It is estimated that 95% of people who gain weight will gain it back in one to five years. They want you to come back every time you fail at their promises.
It’s not your fault that you keep the weight on, it’s the diet’s fault. It is not realistic to deprive yourself and over work out as many diets promote. Instead of trying a new diet this summer, maybe work on building healthy habits to help improve your mental and physical health.